Trump Withholds SNAP Benefits During Government Shutdown
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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signaled that he would be withholding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, AKA SNAP benefits, until “Radical Left Democrats open up government.”
In a post on truth social Trump wrote “SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
As we know, not only one, but two federal judges directed Trump to continue paying SNAP benefits through emergency funds. On Monday, the white house said that they would not be utilizing other funds, calling it “an unacceptable risk.”
The administration did agree to send out partial funds for individuals on SNAP through November, but now they’re saying this process of recalculating funds could result in significant delays.
Trump says that the fund has $4.65 billion available for households, which is not enough to cover the full amount of SNAP benefits for the month of November. They say that the expected cost is upwards of $9 billion.
The USDA told grocery stores they were prohibited from offering discounts to SNAP recipients during the shutdown.
Tuesday evening, Karoline Leavitt, who is the white house press secretary, offered some clarification on the plans that the white house has for SNAP, saying that partial benefits are still scheduled to be sent out, although there will be a delay.
Weijia Jiang, CBS News senior White House correspondent, inquired whether the administration planned to distribute the money or defy the court order.
“No. The administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it,” Leavitt said. “The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand it’s going to take some time to receive this money, because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position. We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, and war. And the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future. And that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post,” she added, “The Department of Agriculture, as for the latest SNAP payment and the judge’s order, put out guidance to states today on how to get that money to the recipients of SNAP. But it’s going to take some time,”
Many states turned to their own emergency funds and braced for the anticipated halt in the program that is solely funded by the federal government. State directed residents to food banks or outright said that benefits will not be available beginning in November.
12.3% of U.S. Americans received SNAP benefits in 2024, which also equates to 41.7 million people, not to mention some states and territories are more reliant on SNAP benefits than others.
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Trump Withholds SNAP Benefits During Government Shutdown was originally published on majic945.com
